ABSTRACT

My grandfather, William Ward McLane-son of John and Julia McLane-was born on November 18, 1846, in Lewisville, Indiana County, Pennsylvania. William graduated from Blackburn College in 1871, and from the Western Theological Seminary in 1874. He was then ordained to the Presbyterian ministry, and served as pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church in Stuebenville, Ohio until 1883. That year, William was officially charged with heresy for preaching on the writings of Charles Darwin. Evolution was widely unaccepted among the faithful of the time, and at the annual meeting of the Presbyterian Synod it became clear to my grandfather that he would be convicted of his charge.